Whiskey Lullaby
by Serenity Valley Girl
Summary: Change a few 'her's to 'him's and voila a song fic is born. This is slash-nothing graphic but don't like don't read. Please review!


Disclaimer: Not mine-I just like doing things with them that would make Adam Baldwin say "ewww!"

_He put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette  
He broke his heart, he spent his whole life tryin' to forget  
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time  
But he never could get drunk enough to get him off his mind  
Until' the night_

_He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger  
And finally drank away his memory  
Life is short but this time it was bigger  
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees  
We found him with his face down in the pillow  
With a note that said, "I'll love him till I die"  
And when we buried him beneath the willow  
The Angels sang a whiskey lullaby_

_La la la la la la la, la la la la la la laa  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la laa_

* * *

The day Casey had left he had taken Chuck's heart with him.

Casey had convinced Chuck that their relationship had nothing to do with the Intersect or orders from the General. Simply put Casey had made him believe he was in love. But the day came when there was a new Intersect and someone came up with the bright idea that since the Intersect was in essence a computer, all be it in Chuck's head, that it should be possible to give it a virus and thereby short out the information in his mind.

It worked.

Chuck had expected Sarah's goodbyes and had held no illusion that their relationship would continue to be anywhere near as close as it had been. But he had fully expected that Casey would remain in his life. But all Casey had said was "see ya kid," while looking at a point over Chuck's shoulder and then turned and left.

It had taken Chuck months before he stopped looking for the note he was sure Casey had left him or the phone call that never came. But he finally had to accept the fact that it had all been a lie. The months of closeness and expressions of love both in and out of the bedroom had just been one more way for the NSA to maintain control of the Intersect.

That's when Chuck started drinking.

It had begun with a single shot before bed to help him sleep. He'd been having constant nightmares and spent most of the night tossing and turning. Noticing that Chuck seemed tired, Captain Awesome had mentioned that his Grandmother had taken a glass of whiskey before bed when she had trouble sleeping.

The first night Chuck tried it was the first night he'd had an undisturbed 7 hours of sleep since Casey left. But eventually the one shot had turned in to two and then three and then a shot when he got home from work. Before he knew it Chuck was going through at least a bottle and a half a day.

Everyone had noticed something was wrong-but Chuck had been acting strangely for so long that no one was quite sure what was going on.

Until the morning Morgan and Ellie decided to confront Chuck. They found him with his face down in the pillow. With a note that said, "I'll love him 'till I die." Ellie's scream was heard a block away when they realized Chuck wasn't breathing.

They buried him under the willow tree in the cemetery. His tombstone gave his name, date of birth and death and the words from the note. Not even Morgan was sure who Chuck had been referring to in his last message but everyone agreed it was fitting that his last words should remain for all to see, especially whoever the 'he' was.

_***************************************************************************  
The rumors flew but nobody knew how much he blamed himself  
For years and years, he tried to hide the whiskey on his breath  
He finally drank his pain away a little at a time  
But he never could get drunk enough to get him off his mind  
Until' the night_

_He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger  
And finally drank away his memory  
Life is short but this time it was bigger  
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees  
We found him with his face down in the pillow  
Clinging to his picture for dear life  
We laid him next to him beneath the willow  
While the Angels sang a whiskey lullaby_

* * *

Casey was informed of Chuck's death a week after the funeral. Having been out on a mission and out of touch for a long while, the General informed him that his former asset was gone along with a dozen other items none of which Casey heard. Hoping that someone had taken the nerd and made it look as if he had died, Casey took some of his long overdue vacation time and returned to California. After speaking with Morgan, Ellie, Devon and several other's as well as examining the coroner's report and taking a DNA sample of the body using a radar guided probe, Casey was forced to admit to himself that Chuck really was gone. Both Ellie and Morgan had questioned Casey regarding the identity of the 'him' in Chuck's note but Casey had denied having any knowledge.

Still the look in Casey's eyes and his reaction to the news of Chuck's death was enough to get the rumor mill started in Burbank and in Intelligence circles. Casey knew people were talking but he just could not bring himself to care. It was as if he'd left his heart in that room where he'd gotten the final confirmation of Chuck's death.

Confirmation was not the only thing Casey had found in Burbank. While he was searching Chuck's room he had found several bottles of whiskey hidden around the room. He wasn't surprised Ellie had not found them. Chuck had been too clever by half before the Intersect entered his life; it only made sense that with all the time he'd spent around spies Chuck would have picked up something.

Casey took the bottles back with him. Why he was never sure but one night he found himself staring at them as if they held all the answers.

He began to drink. He bought the same brand of whiskey he'd found in Chuck's room but he never opened those bottles. He tried, oh how he tried, to not let his personal problems affect his work but this time it was his work which had created he problem.

He'd been told in no uncertain terms that if he maintained contact with Chuck there would be consequences not for him but for Chuck. He'd figured he'd finish out his contract with the NSA and go back for Chuck. It had never occurred to him that the nerd would take his leaving so hard or that Chuck would lose faith in him.

The drinking began to take over Casey's life.

Eventually, he was placed in leave from the NSA but Casey just couldn't bring himself to care.

His landlord found him one afternoon when the rent was overdue. He was face-down in the pillow clinging to a picture of a young man. Casey had listed Ellie and Morgan as his emergency contacts. When they heard the circumstances of Casey's death they began to understand what had happened although they would never have a true understanding.

They brought him back to California and buried him next to Chuck. They thought it was only fair that the two men be together in death as they could not be in life.

_**************************************************************************************************************************************************  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la laa  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la laa  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la laa_

* * *

Casey awoke with a start.

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed putting his head in his hands he tried to clear his head of the dreadful nightmare. The man who had been lying in his arms sat up as well and put his hand on Casey's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Chuck asked with concern.

Reaching around, Casey pulled the younger man on to his lap. "Just a dream," he said resting his chin on Chuck's shoulder. Sighing, he said, "promise me something Chuck."

Pulling back slightly, Chuck gazed into Casey's blue eyes, "anything."

"No matter what happens, just remember that I'll always come for you. Regardless of what I have to say or do in a situation just hold on to the fact that I love you and there is nothing that would keep me from you."

"Must have been some dream," commented Chuck wryly. "It usually takes a near death experience for you to say those three words."

Seeing that Casey was still hurting from whatever his subconscious had given Casey for his viewing pleasure, Chuck looked at Casey with all the love he normally was unable to show, "I know that John. You're always there to catch me when I fall."

Nodding, the NSA agent turned swung his legs back onto the bed taking his asset with him. Chuck shifted slightly laying down with his arms and legs wrapped around his handler and his head on the wall of muscle known as Casey's chest.

"And no whiskey," Casey said suddenly.

"What?"

"No whiskey."

"Right, Agent Carmichael only drinks martini's anyway," said Chuck as he drifted back to sleep.

* * *

I was listening to this song on my ipod and this story just popped into my head fully formed. It was meant to be angst but I just can't stand to leave things in a bad way. I love a happy ending.


End file.
